Ros-Lehtinen: GOP Must Attract Millennials, Women and Minorities

Veteran Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen warned Sunday the GOP is “heading into trouble” in a future that looks grim unless the party can attract more millennials, women and minorities.

In remarks on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” the retiring Florida Republican said the party needs “to get minorities involved in our party.”

"When you look at the future of the Republican Party, I think that we would be foolish to not see that we're heading into trouble,” she said.

“Very few women are running… on the Republican Party ticket for office. Far greater numbers of women are identifying themselves as being in the Democratic Party. Minorities — that have always been traditionally a group that we should really be going after, I don't see that we really have a recruiting program that's active to get minorities involved in our party,” she continued.

Ros-Lehtinen decried that the growth of the GOP “seems to be very limited in a specific group.” But, she noted, “the demographics of our great country is changing greatly.”

“When you look ahead, what's our future going to be?” she asked. “Are we going to end up a marginalized party? I think that we need to look toward the future, and we need to have the policies that attract millennials, women and minorities. I don't see that."

• Republicans Gaining Steam as Tax Plan Popularity Grows
• Poll: Dems Hold Lead in Generic Vote For Congress